Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Trust In The Lord

"For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction...that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves so we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raised the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope." (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

In Asia, Paul and his companions had suffered intense personal and physical affliction which had three results on them:

They were burdened excessively
They were burdened beyond their strength
They were burdened to the point that they despaired even of life

In other words, they were certain that the affliction they faced would end in their physical death. They had "the sentence of death within themselves." But even this seemingly fatal cloud hanging over their ministry heads had a silver-lining. It caused them to trust fully in God. Their fate was out of their control. They had no choice but to trust God alone. As a result, they set their hope on Him.

If your affliction in ministry results in your fully trusting God - setting your hope on Him and Him alone - then it is worth every hurt, every bruise, every tear, and every sleepless night. You cannot avoid pain in ministry but you can avoid your pain resulting in your becoming bitter toward ministry. That's what pain will do. It will cause you to become BITTER or it will cause you to become BETTER. The choice is dependent on "Who" you trust while you are going through the storm.

As my Grandpa, who had been a pastor for nearly 50 years, battled the final days of his fight against cancer, he told me these words,

"All my life I have preached Proverbs 3:5-6, 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your paths.' But now, I really know what those verses mean."

Don't let your hurt make you BITTER! Allow your pain to make you BETTER by learning to trust God more fully!

feel free to leave a comment or email me at skdistler@gmail.com

2 comments:

trendsbytracey said...

Pastor Scott, I love being able to get an update from your daily blogs AND receive a good message :-). They are hard to come by these days. Thank you for connecting us with Rick and Ginger (and Victory). We plan to attend there for now. If, God willing, you find yourself staying local though, we will be in the front seats! Happy Birthday, Laura! God bless and take care, Tracey

Pastor Scott said...

Thank you, Tracey. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read my blogs and make a comment. I also very deeply appreciate your words of encouragement. Rick and Ginger are just wonderful people. Perhaps some Sunday we will stop in and visit ourselves. Blessings!